Create a how-to guide to help social studies teachers frame and defend lessons about authoritarianism.

How can social studies teachers create lesson plans on authoritarianism that are likely to withstand any challenge by parents or administrators?

Understanding how democracies erode is one of the most important things a social studies class can teach. But many teachers feel pressure to avoid the topic entirely because it can be seen as partisan, especially when students might connect historical patterns to current events. Teachers in some states face additional constraints imposed by laws that restrict how they can discuss the current government, race, or politics in the classroom.

These teachers need resources that help them frame the topic in a way that’s solid enough to withstand pushback from parents, administrators, or state-level restrictions. A lesson about “competitive authoritarianism in Hungary” or “how propaganda functioned in the Soviet Union” is much harder to object to than a lesson that sounds like it’s editorializing about the present.

This package is for social studies, government, political science, and history teachers who want to teach about authoritarianism but need help framing it so that it’s academically defensible.

You will write a how-to guide (1200-1500 words) that helps teachers frame and justify covering authoritarianism in the classroom. The guide should walk a teacher through the problem and offer strategies. It should also include at least 10 inline links to resources where teachers can go to learn more.

Your guide should cover:

• Ways in which the current political environment makes teaching this topic difficult
• Challenges teachers are currently facing in the classroom when teaching about this topic
• Framing strategies that make the topic easier to teach without appearing partisan
• Advice from other educators who are navigating similar pressures

The 10 inline links should point to free resources that could help a teacher both teach this topic and defend teaching it.

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Essential skills:

• Good research skills
• Ability to write clearly and concisely
• Familiarity with the factors that make teaching authoritarianism difficult right now

NOT required:

• Teaching experience (though it helps)
• Political science background

To give you an idea of the kind of resource that belongs in this guide, here’s one example:

• Shanker Institute — When Educators Confront Authoritarianism: Case studies of how educators in Venezuela, Chile, Hungary, and Russia have navigated and resisted authoritarian control of education. It’s grounded in history and comparative politics, which makes it useful both as teaching material and as a framework for thinking about why this topic belongs in a classroom.

Your job is to find at least 9 more resources like this and weave them into a guide that helps teachers not just find materials, but think strategically about how to cover this topic.

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For general questions, you can message your handler through your dashboard, contact @Owlett on Discord, or email info@myflyinguniversity.org.

If you have an idea for a different approach to all or part of this mission, please feel free to reach out before you get started!

• Your guide is 1200-1500 words.
• Your guide includes at least 10 inline links to free, classroom-appropriate resources.
• Your guide includes advice to frame and justify teaching about authoritarianism.
• Your writing is clear and accessible.

What to submit (from your MFU dashboard):

• Submit the guide as a Google Doc or Word document via your operative dashboard.

There is no hard deadline for this mission, but you will need to provide a status update once a week on your MFU dashboard.